The New Reality of First-Time Homeownership

UTAH (ABC4) — With rises in house prices, many young adults in Utah are seeing home ownership as a dream, rather than a reality.

Lucas Griebel has lived in Utah for nearly four years and is renting a house with friends. At the age of 27, he said homeownership feels more like a dream than a plan. 

“I think a lot of people want a traditional house, they have the idea like a nice back yard, multiple bedrooms and bath, something like our parents had, and I feel like that’s a standard that’s changing,” Griebel said. 

Fidelity suggests that a home should cost no more than three times your annual income, but in Utah, that is no longer the case. 

In 1990, a typical family could afford a home with about two years of their salary; now, by 2025, that same family would need to save nearly six years of their salary. 

“Makes me feel frustrated and its depressing because I have all this debt and I’m still young and I want to go out and live a good life at this point, but I also want to save for the future but it’s overwhelming thinking down the line it will be another big investment I have to think about,” Griebel said. 

An overwhelming thought for Griebel as he’s tried to creep out of the rental market for nearly two years, while saving for a house. “I feel like everything is going up and down so much it’s a hard decision to make to drop that much money and still feel secure in your life,” Griebel said. 

With skyrocketing prices, some are considering other housing options. 

“There’s a lot of new developments where you’re buying a condo instead of a house these days,” Griebel said. He also said the biggest struggle is trying to balance saving a home, retirement, and someday a family, because “it’s kind of the American dream to buy a house and have a family like that, so it’s still a goal to have,”

The National Association of Realtors said first-time home buyers in the US typically make up 30% to 35% of home buyers.